The company has been heavily criticised for the chaos that has engulfed the Southern network, which has resulted in passengers travelling into London suffering months of delays, cancellations and station overcrowding.

Activists take part in a protest against Southern Rail at Victoria Train StationCredit:
SWNS.com

The Government unveiled a series of measures, including the appointment of a new "project board", following months of disruption to Southern services because of a bitter dispute over the role of guards and staff shortages.

Former Virgin Rail chief operating officer Chris Gibb will head the new board, working with the train operator, the Department of Transport and Network Rail, to look at achieving a "rapid" improvement in services.

Chris Grayling, the Transport Secretary, said: "I want the Southern network to be run by a team of people who work together to make sure passengers get decent journeys and that problems are dealt with quickly.

"This review will suggest how we achieve a joined-up approach to running the train and tracks and make things work better for the public.

"We also need to get to grips with things that go wrong on this part of the network. That is why we are putting in place a £20 million scheme to tackle the cause of breakdowns that too often cause frustrating and damaging delays on the network.

"I now urge the industry, the train operating company and unions to work together to improve services for passengers."